Hearts, Bulldogs cruise into NVL final With VIDEO report By Kyle BrennanRepublican-American

WATERBURY — As fans arrived at the Reggie O'Brien Gymnasium for Monday night's Naugatuck Valley League semifinals, they entered to the sight of Sacred Heart sophomore Mustapha Heron wearing a gray hoodie and khaki slacks. That is not the Hearts' uniform.

That was OK with the rest of the squad. The second-seeded Hearts fared just fine without their injured star, cruising to a 68-52 win over No. 6 Torrington to reach the league final.

Heron isn't sure yet whether he will be able to play in the final after suffering a left knee injury over the weekend. Sacred Heart (20-2) will need him Wednesday, but the Hearts would also like the rest of the team to play like it did in Heron's absence.

Malik Petteway, who was snubbed from the All-NVL team honored between games Monday, set a tone in the game's first 10 minutes that lasted until the final buzzer. He spurred a 23-7 run that stretched from early in the first to midway in the second and gave Sacred Heart a 27-13 lead.

He dominated the first period with seven points, six rebounds and two blocks — almost enough to make everyone forget about Heron's injury.

"Our team just thought we had to step our game up," said Petteway, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. "We had to fill in his

See NVL, Page 7B

spot. We had to grab some more rebounds and just hustle more."

They did. Sacred Heart held a 31-18 advantage on the glass and spread around the scoring attack. Tyran Flowers paced the Hearts with 19 points while Charles Fisher had 15 and Isaiah Rascoe chipped in with 13. Fisher's line included six boards and six assists, and he helped shoulder the load when Petteway picked up his second foul with 5:17 left in the first half.

"I wasn't worried because I knew my team could do without me," Petteway said. "If they could do it without Mustapha, they could do it without me."

Sacred Heart held a 30-20 lead at the half but Torrington (12-10) remained pesky throughout the third quarter, thanks in part to John McCarthy's team-leading 15 points. The Hearts pulled away with an 18-2 run early in the fourth, sending Petteway and his team to the NVL final.

"Malik really wanted to play Wednesday against Crosby," Rascoe said before tipoff of the second semifinal. "We hope it's against Crosby. He really has something to prove."

Their wish came true in short order. The Bulldogs dominated Wilby from the get-go, thanks to incendiary shooting from downtown. Crosby (21-1) hit its first five 3-point attempts of the night as it ripped open leads of 11-0, 18-3 and 26-8.

Tyshon Rogers, one of the few 2,000-point scorers in area history, led the torrid start by burying his first four tries from beyond the arc — from a combined total of about 100 feet. He finished with seven 3s, including a buzzer-beater over a double-team to give the Bulldogs a 42-24 lead at halftime.

"I just came out powerful," said Rogers, whose 34 points moved him to within 22 of the all-time NVL scoring record. "I had a lot of confidence in my shot. After I made the first one, I figured I'd keep shooting."

It was the Rogers that Crosby coach Nick Augelli wanted to see after a few off nights.

"The last couple games, he's struggled," Augelli said. "I told him, 'Just come out and have fun.' I think he was looking at that record and pressing a bit. I told him, 'The record is going to be there.'"

Wilby (12-10) appeared several times in the second and third quarters ready to make a run and get back in the game. But the Wildcats failed to close the gap back to single digits despite the efforts of Taifa Wright (20 points). Crosby iced the game with an 18-2 run to close the third quarter with a 64-36 lead.

"We tried to not let them come back," Rogers said. "We kept pushing hard defensively and put together some good offense."

Perez, King and Rogers will be the Bulldogs' three senior starters in Wednesday's final, which will be a rubber match against Sacred Heart much like the one Crosby had last winter against Wilby.

"Every year there are big games. Crosby is in those big games every year," Augelli said. "Tyshon, Lex and Aseim are the glue of this team and I feel really good with them going into the game."

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